Shadow Open Market Committee (SOMC)

Shadow Open Market Committee Meeting April 2025
2025-04-07 08:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York) | 1333 H Street NW, Washington DC, 1333 H Stret NW, Washington, DC, 20005, United States
How can the Fed improve its policy framework?
Monday, April 7, 2025
1333 H Street NW – 10th floor Conference room Washington, DC JTNDaWZyYW1lJTIwd2lkdGglM0QlMjI1NjAlMjIlMjBoZWlnaHQlM0QlMjIzMTUlMjIlMjBzcmMlM0QlMjJodHRwcyUzQSUyRiUyRnd3dy55b3V0dWJlLmNvbSUyRmVtYmVkJTJGdmlkZW9zZXJpZXMlM0ZzaSUzRElORzZoMTVRdXNvaTNkVDQlMjZhbXAlM0JsaXN0JTNEUExXcTc2aUNNcjg3elA0MDJFWWhpcTJ3eW5VQVlTTlhPdiUyMiUyMHRpdGxlJTNEJTIyWW91VHViZSUyMHZpZGVvJTIwcGxheWVyJTIyJTIwZnJhbWVib3JkZXIlM0QlMjIwJTIyJTIwYWxsb3clM0QlMjJhY2NlbGVyb21ldGVyJTNCJTIwYXV0b3BsYXklM0IlMjBjbGlwYm9hcmQtd3JpdGUlM0IlMjBlbmNyeXB0ZWQtbWVkaWElM0IlMjBneXJvc2NvcGUlM0IlMjBwaWN0dXJlLWluLXBpY3R1cmUlM0IlMjB3ZWItc2hhcmUlMjIlMjByZWZlcnJlcnBvbGljeSUzRCUyMnN0cmljdC1vcmlnaW4td2hlbi1jcm9zcy1vcmlnaW4lMjIlMjBhbGxvd2Z1bGxzY3JlZW4lM0UlM0MlMkZpZnJhbWUlM0U=
AGENDA AND LINKS TO PRESENTATIONS
8:30- 9:00 am Registration/coffee
9:00-9:15 am Welcome and Overview, Athanasios Orphanides, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Charles Plosser, Former President, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia (PDF)
9:15-10:00 am Conversation with Jim Bullard, Purdue University and Former President, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis and Richard Clarida, Columbia University, PIMCO and Former Vice Chair, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (PDF)
10:00-10:30 am Break
10:30 am-12:00 pm Panel 1: What aspects of the strategy should this review focus on?
Chair: Jim Bullard, Purdue University and Former President, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Panelist: Gregory Hess, IES Abroad (Presentation PDF)
Panelist: Vincent Reinhart, Chief Economist & Macro Strategist, BNY Investments (Presentation PDF)
Panelist: Mickey Levy, Hoover Institution (Presentation PDF, Presentation PDF)
12:00 pm-12:45 pm Lunch
12:45-2:15 pm Panel 2: How can the Fed best achieve its goals using available instruments?
Chair: Deborah Lucas, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Panelist: David Romer, University of California, Berkeley (Presentation PDF)
Panelist: Thomas Hoenig, Mercatus Center-George Mason University and Former President, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, Former Vice Chair FDIC (Presentation PDF)
Panelist: Jeff Lacker, Mercatus Center-George Mason University and Former President, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond (Presentation PDF)
2:15-2:45 pm Break
2:45-4:15 pm Panel 3: How can the Fed best communicate its policy and policy strategy?
Chair: Gregory Hess, IES Abroad
Panelist: Donald Kohn, Brookings Institution and Former Vice Chair, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Presentation PDF)
Panelist: Andrew Levin, Dartmouth College (Presentation PDF)
Panelist: Athanasios Orphanides, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
4:15-4:20 pm Concluding remarks: Jim Bullard, Purdue University and Former President, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
SOMC Members:
Michael D. Bordo, Rutgers University
James Bullard, Purdue University, Former President, Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis
Charles Calomiris, Columbia University
Gregory D. Hess, IES Abroad
Peter Ireland, Boston College
Jeffrey M. Lacker, Former President, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond
Andrew Levin, Dartmouth College
Mickey D. Levy, Hoover Institution
Deborah Lucas, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Athanasios Orphanides, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Charles Plosser, Former President, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia
Additional information about the SOMC and its past meetings is available at: https://shadowfed.org/

A 50-Year Retrospective On The Shadow Open Market Committee And Its Role In Monetary Policy
2024-10-13 - 2024-10-14 | DC
A 50-year Retrospective of the SOMC and Its Role in Monetary Policy
On October 13-14, the Hoover Institution at Stanford University hosted the SOMC’s 50th Anniversary meeting. The conference included presented papers, panel discussions and keynote speeches on the evolution of monetary policy and the SOMC’s contributions; the influences of the SOMC and monetarism in the UK and Europe; the search for a nominal anchor; the Fed’s evolving interpretation and implementation of the dual mandate; the evolution from free reserves to the coordior and floor systems; fiscal and monetary issues; from “lender of last resort to ‘too big to fail” to “financial system failure”; and a panel of former Fed members on the influences of the SOMC and others outside the Fed. Keynote speeches were provided by Chris Waller, Governor of the Federal Reserve System and John Taylor, the Hoover Institution and Stanford University.
The papers and slides are linked in the conference agenda shown below.

Sunday, October 13, 2024

Time
Content
Speaker

6:00 – 7:00 PM
RECEPTION
—

7:00 PM
Welcoming Remarks
Keynote Speaker
“Rules Versus Discretion Over the Last 50 Years”

Michael Bordo, Hoover Institution and Rutgers University
John Taylor, Hoover Institution and Stanford University
(slides)

7:20 PM
DINNER
—

Monday, October 14, 2024

Time
Content
Speaker

7:15 – 8:05 AM
BREAKFAST
—

8:05 AM
Welcome
Condoleezza Rice, Director, Hoover Institution

8:15 AM
The Evolution of Monetary Policy: Critical Issues That Have Shaped Monetary Policy and the SOMC Over 50 Years

Moderator: Gregory Hess, IES Global
Paper: Michael Bordo, Hoover Institution and Rutgers University, and
Mickey Levy, Hoover Institution (paper) (slides)
Discussants: David Wheelock, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (paper) (slides)
George Tavlas, Bank of Greece (virtual) (paper) (slides)

9:15 AM
Influences of the SOMC and Monetarism in Europe and the United Kingdom

Moderator: Charles Plosser, Hoover Institution and former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia
Panelists: Georg Rich, former director of the Swiss National Bank (paper) (slides)
Axel Weber, former president of the Deutsche Bundesbank (virtual) (slides)
Charles Goodhart, former special advisor to the Bank of England (virtual) (slides)
Otmar Issing, former chief economist of the Deutsche Bundesbank and the European Central Bank (virtual) (paper)

10:30 AM
Break
—

10:45 AM
The Search for a Nominal Anchor

Moderator: Kevin Warsh, Hoover Institution
Panelists: Peter Ireland, Boston College (paper) (slides)
Gregory Hess, IES Abroad (paper) (slides)
Robert Hetzel, George Mason University and formerly Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond (paper)

11:45 AM – 12:00 PM
Room Transition: Proceed to lunch venue
—

12:00–1:15 PM

LUNCH
Keynote Speech

Presenter: Christopher Waller, governor, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Systems
Moderator: Athanasios Orphanides, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

1:15 – 1:30 PM
Room Transition: Proceed to Conference Auditorium
—

1:30 PM
The Fed’s Evolving Interpretation and Implementation of Its Mandate

Moderator: Steve Davis, Hoover Institution
Panelists: Athanasios Orphanides, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (slides)
Andrew Levin, Dartmouth College
James Bullard, dean, Purdue University Business School and former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

2:30 PM
The Conduct of Monetary Policy: Evolution from Free Reserves to the Corridor and Floor Systems

Moderator: Charles Calomiris, professor emeritus, Columbia University
Panelists: Loretta Mester, University of Pennsylvania and former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland (paper) (slides)
William Nelson, Bank Policy Institute, formerly Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (paper) (slides)
Darrell Duffie, Graduate School of Business, Stanford University (slides)

3:30 PM
Break
—

3:45 PM
Panel on Monetary-Fiscal Issues

Moderator: Michael Boskin, Hoover Institution and Stanford University
Panelists: John Cochrane, Hoover Institution (slides)
Charles Plosser, Hoover Institution and former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia
Deborah Lucas, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (slides)
Patrick Kehoe, Stanford University (slides)

5:00 PM
From the “Lender of Last Resort” to “Too Big to Fail” to “Financial System Savior”

Moderator: Thomas Hoenig, George Mason University and former president, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City and vice chair FDIC
Paper: Jeffrey Lacker, George Mason University and former president, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond (paper) (slides)
Discussants: Amit Seru, Hoover Institution and Stanford University (slides)
Charles Calomiris, professor emeritus, Columbia University (slides)

6:00 PM
Concluding Remarks
Mickey Levy, Hoover Institution

6:05 – 6:30 PM
RECEPTION
—

6:30 – 6:45 PM
Room Transition: Proceed to dinner venue
—

6:45 PM
Panel on the Influences of the SOMC and Others Outside the Fed

Moderator: Deborah Lucas, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Panelists: Donald Kohn, Brookings Institution and former vice chair, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Roger Ferguson, Council on Foreign Relations and former vice chair, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Robert Heller, former governor, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (paper) (slides)
Esther George, former president, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City

7:45 PM
DINNER
—

8:30 PM
CONFERENCE ADJOURNS
—
